Etymologically
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parturio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [parˈtʊ.ri.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [parˈtuː.ri.o][1]

Forms

parturiō (present infinitive parturīre, perfect active parturīvī or parturiī); fourth conjugation, no supine stem[1] Phaedrus and Apuleius have the imperfect parturībam.[2][3] A curse tablet spells it -tour-.[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin pariō (“to bear, give birth”) + -uriō, a desiderative.[2][1][3][4] De Vaan counts it among the two oldest presents in ⟨-urīre⟩, perhaps modelled on ēsuriō (“to be hungry”), and traces pariō to Proto-Indo-European *pérh3-i- (“to provide”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus says in the Amphitruo that Alcumena is in labour.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to be on the point of giving birth, to be in labour, of women and animals: Terence has someone fear it will be noticed that a woman is in labour, Ovid has Lucina help at the prayer of one in labour, and Phaedrus has a dog in labour.[2][3] Of trees and land it is to burst into bud: Virgil says that now every tree is in bud.[2] Figuratively the mind is in travail, as Cicero speaks of one mind labouring for many.[2] Horace gives the proverb parturient montēs, nascētur rīdiculus mūs, the mountains will labour and a ridiculous mouse be born.[2] Transitively it is to be pregnant with, as Pliny the Elder's painting of Liber being born from Jupiter.[2] Church Latin also uses it of intending, imagining, brooding over or meditating something.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of Alcumena in labour.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the mind in travail.[2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of trees in bud.[2]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace's proverb of the mountains in labour.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be in labour, be about to give birth; of trees, to bud.[2][3][1][6]
  2. (figurative) To be in travail, be anxious.[2]
  3. (transitive) To be pregnant with; to teem with.[2][1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To intend, brood over, meditate.[6]

Word family

  • comparturio
  • parturītiō
  • reparturiens

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson